Dear Tom...Bothering with detentions

Hi Tom and bigkid
Just a quick update..........There is a particularly challenging year group in the school (SLT's words not mine) and today my efforts at enforcing the school discipline policy were rewarded with 3 pupils running out of the lesson, plus very scary verbal/physical aggression from 2 others after I'd asked them to sit down at the end of the lesson and wouldn't let them go to their break due to their behaviour in my lesson.
SLT reckon I need to develop coping strategies to deal with this so I've informed SLT that I've applied for other jobs at schools where they have a zero tolerance policy to this type of intimidating behaviour (I think this is a pretty good coping strategy!).
Wouldn't mind but 5 pupils in this lesson are doing my subject to A level next year (which is quite a big number in my department!)
By the way Tom love the book ;0) you are absolutely right I am employed to give pupils a good education (which I do) however I'm not employed to put up with the behaviour of some pupils....................

Just a quick update..........There is a particularly challenging year group in the school (SLT's words not mine) and today my efforts at enforcing the school discipline policy were rewarded with 3 pupils running out of the lesson,

Click to expand...

This shows that giving the detentions is working. These pupils would rather deal with the consequences of running out of your lesson (which will probably be dealt with by a craven appeaser if you refer it up) than deal with you. Enquire as to what is being done about the running out of lesson (is this not truancy?)

jscience said:

plus very scary verbal/physical aggression from 2 others after I'd asked them to sit down at the end of the lesson and wouldn't let them go to their break due to their behaviour in my lesson.

Click to expand...

I predicted that would happen. Refer it to SLT. Constantly badger them about what they intend to do about it. Set them another detention as they have not completed the original one to your satisfaction and ask their form tutor, head of year or your head of department to be present. they are trying it on and you have to win. Let them front up to you. Most pupils won't do any more than that.

jscience said:

SLT reckon I need to develop coping strategies to deal with this

Click to expand...

Sadly this is typical of weak senior leadership. Your attempts to enforce the school behaviour policy are resulting in work for them. They are not good at (or willing to) deal with behaviour issues. They also have nice offices, computers from which they can email directives and a P.Hd in urban pupil avoidance (I suspect they are probably amazing and solitaire and minesweeper as well.) They are therefore desperately trying to shift the responsibility for dealing with the issues back to you again.

Absolutely; well done for standing up for yourself. If more teachers acted like this then schools would be more careful the way they support their staff.And when you apply pressure to troublesome pupils, the first thing they do is rebel- this is normal. The absolutely, mind-numbingly wrong thing to do next is to trouble the teacher who is applying the pressure. That's the behaviour of the appeasers who are responsible for the behaviour tsunamis that some schools drown under.
Good luck with the job-huntinghttp://behaviourguru.blogspot.com/

congrats for standing up for yourself.
You're fighting a losing battle when you're not been supported by SLT. Keep up your good work untill the end of the year and ifnd somewhere else. If you care about the future A-level pupils, guide them towards changing school too.

By the way next time a student tries push past you to get out of a room try warning them that if they push you you'll report them for assault! They say it to us all the time.. just see what happens if you say it back. Beyond that I agree that you need to be strong and insist that SLT follow their own behaviour strategies. However I'm really shocked that you're having these difficulties with a Y11 class... they have usually started to get the picture by now that it's their future they're jeopardizing. I once inherited a Y11 class in a new school... there was a reshuffle and the HOD helpfully put all the disruptive students into one class and gave it to me during my GTP year! I started the first lesson by asking all the kids who didn't really want to be there to sit at the back of the class and suggested that if they didn't bother me I wouldn't bother them, given that they were old enough to make that choice and that it was their future that would be affected, I explained that I would work my 'ass' off to help the ones who really wanted to achieve but expected nothing less from them in return. A couple of brave souls sat at the back of the class and did nothing for a couple of lessons. They were so shocked that I did nothing to prevent them doing so and ultimately got so bored that they did come around. Given the choice in those terms the majority of the class worked really hard because they felt it was their choice to do so.